The safe transportation and storage of hazardous, high purity and ultra-high purity products are important in the manufacture of specialized components in the electronics and related industries. These transportation and storage procedures must meet all safety and environmental regulations set by government agencies in the countries and jurisdictions involved. In addition, transportation and storage methods must maintain the high and ultra-high purity requirements of the manufacturers that utilize these products.
Some of these products are used in moderate quantities and can be transported and stored in standard cylinders, for example, as compressed liquefied gases. As the demand for such high purity and ultra-high purity products grows, it becomes desirable to ship the products in larger, bulk containers which can be handled by standard modular shipping methods via truck, rail, ship, and air. As such containers become larger, the prevention of leaks and accidental emissions becomes correspondingly more important.
Modular transportation of these products in large volumes can be facilitated by mounting storage tanks within standard-sized structural frames which can be loaded and unloaded using standard cranes and lifts, and which can be shipped by standard modular shipping methods. It is desirable to maximize the volume of product in the tanks which are mounted in these standard-sized structural frames while meeting the safety, environmental, and product purity requirements associated with these shipping methods. There also is a need to monitor potential contamination of the products in the tanks during transportation from a filling location to an end user location. These needs are met by the transportation and storage system of the present invention as described below and defined by the claims that follow.